Trump demands to meet whistleblower and leakers of his Ukraine call

President Donald Trump asserted on Sunday that he’s entitled to meet the whistleblower whose complaint has entangled his administration and led to the opening of an official impeachment inquiry.

“Like every American, I deserve to meet my accuser, especially when this accuser, the so-called ‘Whistleblower,’ represented a perfect conversation with a foreign leader in a totally inaccurate and fraudulent way,” the president wrote on Twitter.

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The tweet followed a morning of network appearances by Trump allies aimed at discrediting the complaint and the impeachment process, after reports that the president asked Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

Like every American, I deserve to meet my accuser, especially when this accuser, the so-called “Whistleblower,” represented a perfect conversation with a foreign leader in a totally inaccurate and fraudulent way. Then Schiff made up what I actually said by lying to Congress……

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 29, 2019

Trump claimed that the whistleblower incorrectly “represented” the July 25 call between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, even though the White House released a memo of the call on Wednesday. In it, Trump passed along unverified allegations about Biden and Democrats before asking Zelensky to do him a “favor” by looking into his political rival.

Trump also tweeted on Sunday that he wanted to meet not only his accuser, “who presented SECOND & THIRD HAND INFORMATION,” but also the person who gave the whistleblower this information.

“Was this person SPYING on the U.S. President? Big Consequences!” Trump wrote.

The president also elevated his attack on Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, saying he should be questioned for “treason” after labeling his actions as “fraud.”

“His lies were made in perhaps the most blatant and sinister manner ever seen in the great Chamber,” Trump said. “He wrote down and read terrible things, then said it was from the mouth of the President of the United States.”

The president’s demand about Schiff comes after a Thursday hearing in which the chairman’s dramatic reading of the call with Zelensky rankled Trump and his allies.

Schiff prefaced the reading by saying, “In not so many words, this is the essence of what the president communicates.”

He then paraphrased the conversation: “I hear what you want. I have a favor I want from you, though, and I’m going to say this only seven times, so you better listen good. I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand? Lots of it.”

After drawing sharp criticism, Schiff noted that his summary of the call was part parody. “The fact that that’s not clear is a separate problem in and of itself,” he said.